Shortly before noon EST on Thursday (February 9), live from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), CNN political reporter Peter Hamby described the gathering as a “conservative petri dish” to measure “how Mitt Romney is received and how his challengers are received too.” Anchor Suzanne Malveaux chimed in: “I love that, conservative petri dish. That’s a great way to describe it.”

A petri dish is defined as “a shallow circular dish with a loose-fitting cover, used to culture bacteria or other microorganisms.” As if conservatives are some kind of organism in a contained space to be studied from above by the “scientists” at CNN for our harmful effects. We’re not the Ebola virus, but that seems as if it’s how CNN sees conservatives.